"a niceish $40,000 car,"
ish.
High on the list of signs that you've bought far too much into lifestyle inflation is thinking that a car costing 70% of the US median household income is only "nice-ish."
ish.
High on the list of signs that you've bought far too much into lifestyle inflation is thinking that a car costing 70% of the US median household income is only "nice-ish."
Henry Ford back in the day raised wages and cut hours because he noticed not even his employees had money or time to enjoy his product.
I think Silicon Valley is at this same point. Work your butt off to not enjoy life. If your single I think the economics work out but for families the area is very hostile.
I make more than 100k, and I have never bought a car for more than $14,000... why? Because I choose my family over my lifestyle.
The guy doesn't work at Tesla, but if the average employee in Tesla can't afford their standard model and have enough money left over to live they are not a viable company, as Henry Ford figured out more than a century ago.
It's capitalism 101, you cut labour costs only to find that you've cut demand as well.
Perhaps you wouldn't consider spending $40k on a car. But I'm sure that there are items that you would splurge on, even if you didn't.
Some people really enjoy cars. I mean, yeah, you're not going to get sympathies from people about the Bay Area being "so hard" to live in (let's be real: it is really fucking expensive to live out there), but at the end of the day, it's your cash.
Then again, I'm biased; I would never drive a cheap beater car. Too uncomfortable, too unreliable, too much sadness. I like cars.
There's a large gap between a $40k car and a "cheap beater." It's full of ... nice cars. There've been plenty of other examples in this thread.
The author of the article didn't want a nice car. He wanted to indulge an expensive passion for high-end cars. I'm not going to criticize the passion - I'm in the middle of a hideously indulgent kitchen remodel (which is costing quite a bit more than that car, alas). Where I disagree is with the implied lack of awareness that these expensive hobbies are one of the underlying factors that rendered his lifestyle incompatible with his salary.
"I love expensive, fast cars, and found that by getting a good job in a low-cost-of-living area, I could feed my family and still indulge my passion" -- good on you! Three thumbs up for making that move. I just moved back to Pittsburgh from Palo Alto. You'll get no disagreement about the cost of living in the bay area in general. Housing is offensively expensive there.
I thank God every day that I don't live in California, so my standard of living at the same income is awesome and times are great for my entire family. All because I won't work in CA.
I have a cushy tech-job yet still drive the hatchback I bought fifteen years ago for $2000. Choices...